For years, Norton Antivirus was the epitome of protection against all sorts of cyber attacks. Viruses, spyware, and other… diseases of the internet were repelled by this software. Phew, things have changed, and the very company that made it is throwing up its hands.
As Symantec, the manufacturer, says: "Antivirus technology is dead." As the company's vice president of information security, Brian Dye, says, "hackers have found new ways to carry out their attacks. And for us, antivirus has never been the big moneymaker."
Mr. Dye said that antivirus software only catches 45% of cyberattacks – a strange claim, but it reflects a broader shift in the cybersecurity industry, with experts forced to adapt to new methods used by hackers.
When antivirus software was first introduced by Symantec in the late 1980s, things on the Internet were very different from today. Now malware is much more aggressive and more hardened, so that it resists antivirus.
Symantec notes that it is now looking for a new "protection" model by offering businesses on-demand, internet leak monitoring packages to predict damage.
Mr. Dye emphasized that even so, antiviruses still offer consumers a number of useful services, such as spam blocking, password management, and even scanning for Facebook users.
In the meantime, new companies such as Juniper Networks and MANDIANT are dynamically entering the game with the aim of offering the notorious protection against hackers.
